Amazon Prime Members Can Watch ‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ Two Weeks Early

Here’s an interesting release strategy: Sony Pictures is letting Amazon Prime members watch their upcoming summer blockbuster, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, two weeks early. Hundreds of locations around the country will screen sneak previews of Hotel Transylvania 3 on Saturday June 30, and the only way you can buy tickets is through Amazon Prime. Via Variety:

The early showings for Prime members will take place at 3 p.m. local time on June 30 at about 1,000 theaters across the country. Members can buy up to 10 tickets per showing online at Amazon.com/HotelT with ticketing powered by Atom Tickets. ‘We can’t wait to welcome Prime members on this monster vacation before anyone else,’ said Elias Plishner, executive VP of worldwide digital marketing for Sony Pictures. ‘Summer vacation has officially started, and this movie will be a perfect way for families and friends to spend quality time together.’

You can already look for screenings near you on the site if you have Amazon Prime; there’s three different ones in New York City listed, for example. It’s worth noting this isn’t a free sneak preview for Prime members, which would be a much better deal; you still have to pay for tickets to the film. But if you’re a huge Hotel Transylvania fan (no judgment) and you have Amazon Prime you can see it first.

Sony and Amazon did this with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle last winter, and that film turned into a huge surprise success. So will people take advantage of the preview this time? If it becomes a regular thing it could be a nice perk for Prime members. Hotel Transylvania 3 opens in theaters on July 13 for the suckers who don’t have Amazon Prime.